Sumitomo Corporation launches "Sankyu Thank You Project"

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kuniharu Nakamura) has launched the "Sankyu Thank You Project" ("sankyu" means "maternity leave" in Japanese) to support the Japanese Red Cross Society's maternal and child health programs in the Sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda and Kenya).

The "Sankyu Thank You Project" aims to protect the lives of as many African infants as the number of babies born to our employees in a year (approx. 200). Under this project, Sumitomo Corporation provides funding for relevant programs conducted by the Japanese Red Cross Society.*

This project was born out of one employee's wish to create an opportunity for employees of Sumitomo Corporation who are having children to be reminded of the support available to them from colleagues and superiors at work as well as to raise awareness of social issues around the world and reflect on their solutions. We proposed this idea to the Japanese Red Cross Society, which was seeking opportunities to collaborate with business enterprises, and it was adopted as a project that Sumitomo Corporation promotes. With this initial project serving as a trial, we hope to engage in more such collaborative efforts in the future.

Leveraging our global network and our experience and expertise in social contribution activities, we at Sumitomo Corporation will continue our activities to contribute to communities.

* Sumitomo Corporation supports the following JRCS programs in Kenya and Uganda:

(1) Program for better healthcare access in Kenya
Support for traveling healthcare service in communities in northern Kenya which have little access to medical care

(2) Program for maternal and child health in Uganda
Provision of "Mama Bag," which contains a kit of minimum tools for safe birthing: a razor for cutting the umbilical cord, sterile gloves, and a plastic sheet.